Jennifer Jamison Prentiss
by Kurissyma san Tybalt
Summary: JJ and Emily marry in secret and plan to have a baby. So far all is going well, but when Garcia discovers their secret just one week before they planned to tell the group, can she keep it a secret herself? JJ/Emily, Morgan/Garcia. Complete
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Garcia was the first to know. It had happened one morning, (incidentally, one 'morning _after_') as she'd been getting into her car. As usual after a heavy night out drinking the first thing she did upon preparing to drive to work was to check the backseat of her beloved '_Esther'_ for traces of inappropriate litter and/or vomit. Mercifully, today, she found none. What she did find, however, was a purse and, incapable of remembering which one of her friends had brought it (or, indeed, the majority of the evening) she was forced to find and open a wallet for signs of identification. Head pounding, an unwelcome reminder of the night before, she almost dismissed the identity issue immediately upon seeing the photo: JJ, staring blankly at the camera in the photo shop downtown, but she happened to glance across the information, shocked by what she found.

_Jennifer J. Prentiss._

Shaking her head to clear it, Garcia wondered why the words didn't morph back to their original form as she looked at them. She couldn't _still_ be drunk, could she? One way to find out…

"Hey, JJ?" Garcia said into her cell phone, voice shaking as she tried to bypass the limitations her pounding head was imposing on her. "You're not already at work, are you?" She strained her ears to hear the reply, breathy and muffled, but couldn't make out a single word. "JJ?"

"One— One sec, Garcia," JJ said, a little louder, and the loud _thwap _that followed indicated that she was now covering the mouthpiece. Time passed. Two voices spoke indistinctly. "Hey, sorry about that. What's up?" She sounded breathless.

"You're not at work yet, are you?" Garcia asked again, though if she had just heard what she thought she'd heard, she guessed not.

"No, no, I'm not," said JJ, and her voice sounded distracted again. A mirthful, high pitched giggle sounded in the background and JJ shushed loudly.

"Jayj, is this a bad time?" Garcia asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Kind of," JJ admitted. "I'm going in to work soon, can it wait?"

Garcia grinned, seeing her chance. "Actually, that's what I wanted to ask you," she mentioned. "I don't know if I'm right to drive yet, and you left your purse in my car last night before we walked to the bar. I checked and your car keys aren't there, so you must have them. Is it okay if you pick me up on the way?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," JJ agreed in the same distracted tone as before. "I'll be there, say, 8-ish?"

"Sounds good. See you," said Garcia, and she jumped as, just as she hung up the phone, Morgan appeared behind her, floating his arms around her waist possessively.

"Going already?" he asked quietly. "It's not even seven thirty and we haven't got a case…"

"Can you think of anything better to do around here?" asked Garcia, swiveling in his arms and looking up at him mischievously. "I don't know if I can…"

"Ouch woman," Morgan exclaimed quietly, sultry in tone, staggering back with a hand to his heart. "Unless you want what happened last night to become a distant memory, you'd better start padding my ego, baby girl."

"Come on, you don't need to be _told_ that you're sexy as hell. Both of us already knew that," Garcia replied, grinning. "Fact is, I've got even more exciting news this morning."

Morgan was suddenly very close to her face, demanding sexily to know exactly _what_ was better news than a night of hot, steamy, _passionate_ sex with him.

"JJ," Garcia said, grin transforming into a cheek-to-cheek _beam_. She flashed the driver's license at him and then put her fist into her mouth, biting down to muffle her excitement.

"Hold up, woman. Why've you got JJ's driver's license?" asked Morgan, reaching for it so he could see it properly.

Garcia opened it again and pushed it in his face. "Jennifer Prentiss??" she pointed out, glee evident in her tone. "She's taken Emily's last name! I _told_ you something was going on between them! I _told_ you!"

Morgan snatched the ID and held it up himself, at a reasonable distance from his face. "Jennifer J. Prentiss…" He read all of the other information. "This is our girl all right…" He wolf-whistled. "Never would've figured… Come on, babe. I'll drive us in to work if you're so keen."

"No, Morgan, I called JJ to take me in. I wanna question her… I also wanna confirm my suspicions that Emily will be there when she comes around, even though Emily's apartment is further than mine and it would be ridiculous for her to pick up Emily first and then come get me."

"Unless," Morgan pointed out, just to be difficult, "She was already on her way to Emily's house when you called her… or if she'd stayed the night there." He grinned widely.

"You had better not be picturing it, Derek!" Garcia chastised, mostly in jest. "Besides, I know that they're at JJ's because I called her home number— her mobile is in her bag, right here."

"Do you want me to scoot before she gets here, baby girl?"

"I don't know…" Garcia trailed off, a suggestive lilt to her tone. "She'll be here in half an hour… What'll I do in that time if you leave?"

She didn't have to say anymore. Within seconds Morgan had taken hold of her hand and was leading her back into the building…

-

It was almost 10 past 8 by the time JJ arrived, and, sure enough, riding shotgun was none other than Emily Prentiss. Garcia waved brightly, conspiratorially, as she got into the car. "Thanks for picking me up, girls," she said, a bright smile on her face. "Here's your purse, JJ. You might want to check that everything's there."

Garcia wasn't surprised when Emily took the bag for her and started rooting through it as JJ pulled out onto the street. After a few minutes she looked up.

"Is your wallet supposed to be in here, Jayj?"

JJ shot a worried look at Emily before forcing herself to look back at the road. "It's not?" she asked anxiously.

"No, I don't think so… The black one?"

"Yeah. It's not in there?"

Garcia sat in the back seat patiently.

"Pen, you didn't see it in the car or anything?"

Garcia feigned innocence at Emily's question. "No, I'm sure I would have noticed!" she said, perhaps _too_ innocently. "But it may have fallen into my bag. Let me check…"

"Find it?" asked JJ after a while.

"No… You say it's black?" asked Garcia, though of course she already knew.

"Yeah."

"Well, this is mine…" said Garcia, opening JJ's and pretending to check the ID. "Penelope Garcia… Oh! But is this yours here?" She put her hand back in the bag and withdrew it again, still holding the same wallet. "Let me check… Jennifer J._ Prentiss_, JJ?"

The two women in the front seats exchanged an awkward look.

"Pull over here," Emily suggested, pointing over to a spot near the park to their right.

"Okay, okay," JJ sighed. To Garcia she said, "Yes, that's it." When they'd stopped, JJ unclipped her seatbelt and motioned for the others to do the same. "Come on, let's talk a walk. We've got time enough."

Undoing her seat belt, Garcia grinned triumphantly at the success of her plan. "Sure thing."

As they got out of the car, she saw Emily take and squeeze JJ's hand briefly before letting it go. "We would have told you," she said guiltily, as she saw Garcia watching. "In fact, we _planned_ to, when the baby starting showing, or when…"

"Whoa, kitty, _rewind!!_" Garcia exclaimed, stopping dead less than 10 feet from the car. This was something that even _she_ had been oblivious to. As the queen of all knowledge, she considered it a personal affront. "You guys are dating, no surprise there. You guys are _married_, okay getting a little surprised now... A _Baby!_" Garcia threw her hands in their air uncomprehendingly. "Which one of you is even _pregnant_?"

JJ smiled awkwardly. "Em is."

Beside her, Emily proffered a guilty smile as she touched a hand to her as yet still flat belly. "Surprise?" she offered lamely.

Garcia stood still, silently, for a few minutes more. Then, without warning, a smile tore itself across her face and she stepped forward to embrace them both at once. "You should have told me. I'm so happy for you guys!"

Awkwardly, the three-person hug persisted until finally Emily tugged her limbs back in toward her own body. The others followed suit.

"Are we ready to go to work now?" asked Emily, brushing herself off professionally.

"Are you kidding?" asked Garcia, eyes wide in horror. "I just heard the best news I've heard in forever! I want champagne!!"

"You didn't drink enough last night? It's only 8 in the morning," JJ laughed. "Besides, you were the one who said you weren't fit to drive half an hour a—" JJ froze as it dawned on her. "You set us up!" she exclaimed belatedly. "You found my wallet and then set us up so we'd have to tell you the truth!"

Garcia smiled guiltily. "So, uhh, _Emily_… How'd it happen anyway? Tell me _everything_!"

Emily raised her eyebrow at Garcia and shook her head, exchanging glances with her fiancée. "Do you reckon she needs to be punished for her dishonesty?" she asked mock-seriously, but then laughed at how it must sound coming from her.

"It's been almost eleven months," JJ acknowledged, walking off further into the park, trusting the others to follow. "I moved in with Em six months ago."

Emily cut in before Garcia could express surprise. "You may think I'm rushing into this with the baby, but I'm not. We're not. You don't know how long I've loved her in secret."

JJ blushed prettily at that. "Same here," she admitted. "I don't think it's too soon at all."

"You guys are too cute!" Garcia exclaimed. "So tell me, how did it happen???"

"Uh, actually, Garcia, it was _you_ who brought us together," JJ told her, laughing at the look on her face. "You and Morgan actually."

"We were talking about you," Emily explained. "JJ said to me 'I don't understand how Penelope can be so oblivious to how much Morgan really loves her. And Morgan too!'' She insisted that if it were her she'd know it immediately. I told her 'Yeah right.'"

Both of them laughed at the memory and Garcia grinned uncertainly.

"So Em told me 'I know for a fact that at least one person in this unit has a crush on you'," JJ continued. "She said that she'd only take me seriously if I guessed correctly who it was."

"She guessed Reid and I told her she was an idiot," Emily went on, "And after _scads_ more wrong guesses, she laughed and picked me as a joke."

"She told me I needed to work on my people skills," JJ giggled, "Which is ridiculous because relating well with people is what I do. It's one of the most important parts of being a liaison. Anyway, she walked off and I followed her, not realizing I'd got it right and spinning off every name I could. Finally we got to the elevator, I was out of names, and right before the doors closed to separate us, she leaned out and kissed me."

"She avoided me for the next week," Emily grumbled humorously. "Not the response I'd been looking for."

"I thought I'd fucked up my chances! I was embarrassed!" JJ protested. "More than anything, I thought she was just kidding to rile me up…"

"So what did you do?" asked Garcia, entranced.

JJ and Emily exchanged glances and shrugged together.

"We hung low a few months," JJ admitted.

"That's code for: she ignored the hell out of me every time I tried to explain," Emily elaborated, raising an eyebrow at her fiancée. "It was like talking to a little kid singing 'LALALALALA' with their fingers in their ears 24/7."

JJ blushed at being compared to a child. "Eventually there was occasion for us to be alone together outside of work… We talked, mostly about trivial things, and when she suggested we get take out and watch a movie I thought that would be safe. A nice distraction. We ended up making out on the couch. Not that I'm complaining..." JJ grinned as it was Emily's turn to flush red.

"So, tell me about this baby. How did that come about?" asked Garcia, nudging Emily playfully. "Where there's a will there's a way? Or was it more like, where there's a _Will_ there's a way." She smirked at JJ, who looked faintly nauseas at the mention of her ex-boyfriend.

"There were a few different _'ways'_ available to me, actually," Emily replied mysteriously. "In the end I had IVF. We were waiting until we were absolutely sure everything was going to be okay to tell you, but so far it's definitely viable." She smiled at her spouse lovingly. "It was a bit awkward starting the conversation that first time, suggesting it, but Jayj was so receptive… I love to think there's a kid in there just growing peacefully, safely, no worries in the world..."

"Well strike me down if you aren't more sentimental now than I've ever seen you," Garcia exclaimed brightly. "When are you going to let the team in on this little masterpiece here?" She tapped Emily's stomach lightly.

"If all goes well at my appointment next week, then soon after that."

Garcia beamed. "I suppose I can't tell Derek, though? Not until then?"

"We'd prefer you didn't, honestly, but there's no harm in it, I guess," JJ told her. "Don't feel bad if you can't hold it in. I feel like shouting it to the world myself_… 'Hey everyone! My wife is pregnant_!'"

"I'll wait," Garcia promised. "I'll enjoy holding your secret over his cute little head for a week anyway." She giggled. "He'll _hate_ that."

JJ and Emily smiled at each other conspiratorially.

"So, Pen," JJ said teasingly, "How _is_ Morgan? I mean… _Derek_."

"Hot, steamy, _gorgeous_…" Garcia admitted shamelessly, causing JJ and Emily to baulk in shock.

"It's _what_…?"

"You mean you've _finally_…?"

Garcia grinned, relishing the weight of her words. "…_Yup._"

Silence…

"Oh my _God_, Pen! That's fantastic!" JJ exclaimed, latching onto her friend excitedly.

"Sure is," Garcia agreed, her tone implying just how _fantastic_ her new relationship with Derek Morgan really was.

"Ah! Look at this gorgeous _day_!" Emily exclaimed enthusiastically. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, Penelope's with Derek, I'm with you, Jayj, there is a _baby_ growing inside me—"

"—We're almost late for work…" JJ continued in a singsong voice.

Emily grinned ruefully, with a little helpless sigh. "You're right," she acknowledged. "Let's go."

-

Keeping it in, Garcia found immediately upon entering the office, was going to be harder than she thought.

First it was Hotch giving them a look for being late to the briefing. How dare he? She was _pregnant_ for crying out loud! You don't give _looks_ to pregnant women! They're very fragile!

At lunch it was Reid's initiative to bring them all takeaway coffees from down the road in order to avoid actually _drinking_ the ridiculous cop coffee in the break room (which were actually in quite high demand considering how many members of staff were still suffering killer handovers). Garcia wanted to slap the drink out of his hand and tell him that, _duh_, pregnant women weren't allowed coffee!

Most of all though, when Morgan asked her how the drive to work/friendly interrogation had gone, she just wanted to scream out "I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNTY" at him more than anything in the world. Instead, she did as she'd told herself she would.

"…Oh, it was _very_ interesting, sweetie," she replied coyly. "Truly _enlightening…._"

"You want me to ask, don't you?" asked Morgan, shaking his head in amusement. "Go on then, baby girl. Tell your man what's up with Jayj and Emily."

"Oh, I couldn't do that," Garcia replied, eyes crinkling in mirth. "Silly man, I've been sworn to secrecy!"

"Sworn to secrecy, huh?" Morgan repeated, scratching his head as he closed the door to her little lair and stepped closer to her. "Must be pretty important… You must be going crazy not being able to tell me…"

He was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. Garcia gulped audibly. "Nope, I'm lovin' it!" she corrected him, a little too quickly. "Just like I'm gonna love the look on your face when they tell you next week!"

"Next week?" Morgan repeated, unable to hide the frustration in his tone. "What on earth is—"

"Morgan, I am a terribly important person with a lot of work to do. Get the hell out of my lair."

Morgan just grinned and popped a kiss on her nose. She couldn't help but smile at him as he left the room. Once he'd done so, she collapsed into her chair, head on her desk. This was going to be harder than she'd thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Work let out early that day. The team didn't have a case and paperwork seemed to become almost optional the hotter the days became around this time of year. Today, it was sweltering and most of the team left before 4 o'clock. As Garcia left the BAU, however, she realized, to her chagrin, that she didn't have a car, completely dashing her hopes of getting to the mall in time to do any reasonable amount of baby shopping (the only thing on her mind at the since that morning). Hailing a cab would be useless this time of day, and by the time she got home to her car and drove out to the shopping centre there'd hardly be a point in doing so at all. Crushed, she looked around for a ride, finding only Hotch in the garage.

"Captain!" she called out, waving her blue purse in the air to get his attention as she jogged over. "In which direction are you headed, Captain?"

"I'm going up to Northgate Mall," said Hotch, a little confused as Garcia's eyes widened in excitement. "I need to pick up something for my son."

"Sir, is there any way I could catch a ride with you? I drove in with JJ this morning, not knowing that I'd need my car to get out to the mall."

Hotch didn't seem enthusiastic, but then when did he ever? "Sure. Get in, Garcia."

Garcia beamed.

"So how is your little guy, sir?" she asked, by way of conversation, as they pulled out of the garage. "Still cute as ever?"

"If by 'Cute as ever' you mean 'As cute as he was when you saw him two days ago', then yes, he is," Hotch replied, and a quick flash of a smile that Garcia almost missed told her that he had just made a joke. She was awed into silence by the revelation.

A little while later she asked him, "So what are you getting for the adorable little bubba at the mall, huh, daddy?"

Hotch's hesitation told her that even he wasn't entirely sure. "Uh, some sort of toy…" he said vaguely. "Haley rang me earlier and said that he'd accidently torn an arm off his favourite rabbit today and could I go in and find him something to cheer him up, since she hasn't had time to sew it yet."

"What sort of toys does he like?" asked Garcia, causing Hotch to squirm a little. "Sir?"

"…I don't know," Hotch admitted. Then he attempted to change the subject. "What do you need at the mall?"

"Not exactly sure," said Garcia, grinning. "But I could help you find a toy for your boy. I'll be in the kiddy section anyway, trying to find something suitable for my friends' baby. Well baby-to-be." She stopped suddenly, wondering if she'd said too much, then realized that Hotch had absolutely no reason to suspect it was even someone from work.

"What's the sex?" asked Hotch, ignoring her offer of help for now.

"No idea," Garcia admitted. "But babies don't really care about that, do they? I mean if you give a baby boy a pink toy he'll just think 'What a lovely change from all that blue…' Or something like that!" She grinned. "I haven't really got a plan. I'm just so excited for them that I needed to get into it right away. It's a good way to channel my excitement, especially considering that I can't tell anyone…" Feeling the need to explain as Hotch raised an eyebrow at her, she continued. "They aren't telling anyone until they know it's healthy. Next week they're going to the doctors, they'll check it out, and if all goes well, they'll break the news."

"And they told you because…?"

"Sir, I'm nothing if not omniscient," Garcia laughed. He _almost_ smiled in reply.

"Another word for nosy…" he mentioned, as they pulled into the parking lot, and Garcia agreed.

"You could say that."

By the time they had reached the baby department of the shopping centre, it occurred to Hotch that he wasn't going to get rid of Garcia anytime soon, and so he decided to use her female instincts to his advantage.

"How about this?" he asked, grabbing the first toy he saw off a shelf and holding it up for her to see.

"Well it depends on why you chose it, sir," Garcia deliberated uncertainly.

Not in the mood for half-answers, Hotch shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's your baby. I don't know what he likes," she told him, as though it were obvious. "If you picked it up because it's similar to the sorts of things that he usually likes to play with then it's great, but if you just picked it up because it was conveniently placed near the entrance to the store, try again."

Hotch put it back silently and they kept browsing. After a few minutes of silence, Garcia spoke up.

"You said you didn't know what sort of toy your son liked, sir," she mentioned, flinching at the look her gave her. "But have you seen this rabbit thing? If he's really cut up about breaking it, maybe he'd like something similar."

Hotch shook his head. "It was just a _rabbit_. It didn't _do_ anything. I mean, it was small, with big floppy ears… it might have squeaked when you pressed its stomach or something."

Garca nodded, grinning. "Come over here," she said, and she led him over to a range of similarly useless toys. "Try one of these."

Hotch grabbed the one closest to him, but put it back when Garcia started _tsk_ing at him. Stepping back a bit, he surveyed the mountain of stuffed animals, racking his brain for anything his wife might have said. For almost twenty minutes he paced around the display, picking one up, putting it back, picking one up, putting it back… and then he found it. It was _perfect_. Smiling wider than she'd ever seen him, Hotch held up the stuffed lion for her to see. This time he got two thumbs up.

Satisfied with his purchase, and grateful for Garcia's help, he decided to repay her by sticking around to help her choose a gift and take her home. It hadn't been a part of the deal, but he felt obliged to nonetheless. He understood that he could never have made such an appropriate choice without her help. As they searched he began to ask awkward questions about her 'friends', by way of polite conversation.

"Is this their first child?" he asked, as she shuffled through the different colours and styles of newborn clothing before her. Not looking at him, she nodded. "And you don't know the sex?" This time she shook her head. Hotch nodded thoughtfully.

"What is it?" she asked, as he started walking in the opposite direction.

"When Haley and I had Jack, we'd already got all of the obvious things: clothes, bibs, little shoes, a cot… but the room was empty of everything else. We didn't have anywhere to put his toys when he wasn't playing with them, so eventually all of the toys we got as gifts from the team and our friends just piled up in his crib until we had to move them into a closet. We had two bottles, but we didn't account for how many he would drop on the ground, so we hadn't got enough of those replaceable lids and we had to keep disinfecting them, which Jack didn't like… Those sorts of things. We also have trouble getting him to sleep, so a CD player for his—"

"Boom!" said Garcia suddenly. "I've got it!!"

Hotch found himself grinning almost imperceptibly as she led him across the shop, over to where the cribs were. "A mobile!" she exclaimed brightly. "It's unisex, it's adorable, and it'll help baby get to sleep so— so 'my friends' can have some alone time!"

Hotch nodded appreciatively and they spent the next half hour or so walking around the floor testing out each and every mobile…

By the time she got home, she was in a brilliant mood, and she could tell he was too. Maybe this was one night his wife would actually appreciate his efforts…

-

When Garcia reached the door, she was surprised to find a note taped there with her name scrawled across it. Eying it up suspiciously, she took it down and inside to read, only to be scared out of her skin when Morgan grabbed her from behind.

Dropping the letter and the box with the mobile, she glared up at him, false anger masking her terror. "Derek Morgan, how _dare_ you try to scare me in my own house!" she chastised him, finger waggling between them.

Morgan smiled and all but ignored her as he bent down to pick up the envelope. "What's this?" he asked, waving it with an air of friendly suspicion as she shifted the box out of the doorway.

"You mean you didn't leave it on the door to distract me while you _jumped me_?" asked Garcia, eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Nope, not me," he said. "It wasn't there when I came in either." He made to open it but she grabbed it off him, ignoring his raised eyebrow.

"It might be personal," she told him, as though it were obvious, and she commanded him to go and make her some tea so that she could read it in private. As he walked into the kitchen, she sat down on the couch. A quick scan of the bottom line revealed the letter to be from JJ.

_Dear Penelope,_

_It was Emily's idea not to reveal too much in this letter, as Morgan may well be reading over your shoulder…_

"Smart move, chick-a-dee…"

…_but we'd like to invite you, all of you, to a party we're having at Em's on Saturday evening for you-know-what-reason. If all goes well, good news. If not, bad news, but news all the same. Dress code is ambiguous but leaning toward the formal end of the spectrum. Come expecting that champagne you've been craving since this morning!_

_Lots of love,_

_JJ_

Garcia grinned widely as she put the letter down and floated a suspicious look at Morgan as he placed a glass of wine in front of her in place of the tea she'd asked him for. "What's this?" she asked coyly. "Don't tell me you're trying to get me drunk already? Don't think you can handle me sober?"

"Just drink, woman," he replied humorously as he flicked on the TV and switched the source to 'DVD player'. Using a second remote from the coffee table in front of him he dimmed the lights in the room.

"What are we watching?" asked Garcia, smiling up at him and noting his evident romanticism appreciatively.

"Titanic," he replied slowly. Then, just to spoil the moment he added, "Chicks seem to dig it, God knows why. The way you all look at Leonardo di Caprio… this movie is practically _foreplay_."

Garcia hit him on the arm playfully, and then snuggled into his side. "Yes, it _is_…" she mused to herself, a little grin playing on her face as the opening theme began to play.

"Just enjoy it while it lasts, baby girl. Next time, we're watching a guy movie," he stated seriously. "With monster trucks, boobs, blood, guts and hookers..."

Garcia's lip curled a little, but she said nothing. That was what _he_ thought!

"You're not pissed off are you?" he asked at her silence, and she merely shook her head. Frowning, he placed a hand on her chin and tipped it up, forcing her to look at him. "I was joking you know," he told her honestly, then all of a sudden she started glaring at him, and that was when he realized... She was pissed off because he was distracting her from Leonardo di Caprio.

Pfft!

_Women._

-

"Do you think it's premature of us to announce a party? I mean, what if something goes wrong, and the scan shows it on Saturday? I don't want to come home and party if that's the case," Emily said nervously, a hand over her stomach as she watched JJ pen and pocket the last invitation, Reid's.

"I know, but they're your friends, sweetie," JJ replied sympathetically, "And good or bad, they're going to want to share in what you're feeling. Don't forget, as we already know well enough: the longer we wait, the harder it will be to tell them."

"How do you think they'll react?" asked Emily quietly, causing JJ to laugh.

"If their reaction is anything like Penelope's we have absolutely _nothing_ to worry about!" she replied, and Emily had to agree.

"She said that it was 'no surprise' to her that we're together," said Emily. "Do you think the others have noticed anything? Are we that obvious?"

"I don't know," JJ replied thoughtfully. "This _is_ Garcia, don't forget. She's more perceptive than most."

"She has to be," said Emily. "She doesn't hear the half of what happens on cases, not the personal stuff. She has to realize for herself when someone is more upset than usual and go in with no information at all… God, Jayj, tell me you'll speak to me when you're away and I'm at home on maternity leave? Don't let me be like Pen and have to _guess_ when something's up with my girl!"

JJ walked over behind Emily's chair to embrace her wife, planting a soft kiss on her head peacefully. "Of course I will," she told her. "You don't have to worry about a thing."

Emily turned her head and smiled up at her gratefully. "I'm so lucky to have you," she said honestly, causing JJ to smirk.

"Yes, you are," she agreed. "Wanna take a walk?"

"…Sure."

-

The second to know was Hotch.

If he'd thought his carefully, lovingly chosen toy would be enough to sate his wife's fury at his having taken so long to pick it and get home the evening before, he was wrong. Jack may have loved the toy, but not as much as Haley had been irritated by the wait. Therefore, the next day he was taxed with another baby-related task, this one to be completed in his lunch break, so that he arrived home on time. Thus, back to the baby store he went, this time in search of a new blanket, as Jack had taken to chewing his lately and it had been reduced to rags by his antics.

When he saw JJ and Emily in the shop on their lunch break, his first thought was that they must have followed him, but just as he was about to confront them, another thought struck him. What were the chances of seeing Garcia, JJ _and _Emily shopping for a baby in the same store in the past two days? Perhaps Garcia's 'friends' were mutual acquaintances? He then wondered if it might be someone _he_ knew too, and he racked his brains for a pair of possible parents, starting with his team.

Briefly, he considered whether or not it was reasonable to suppose that Garcia and Morgan had yet achieved the sexual relationship they had always joked about, because he was sure that neither would consider children with anyone else. Somehow he doubted it, though, for as much as they _did_ joke about it, with innuendos and double entendres, he guessed that they never actually _talked_ about it and were effectively trapped in the game they were playing. Without warning, he found himself feeling sorry for them, and in order to evade the feeling, he moved on to the next of his team members.

As practical and as good a worker as she was, Hotch could hardly imagine JJ a mother. That police detective, LaMontagne had showed interest in her only months ago, but she had hardly noticed his advances, painfully obvious as they were. He had gathered from this that she was uninterested in romance at the present time, and children hardly followed from that.

As his mind fell on Reid, Hotch found himself shaking his head incredulously. The idea that Reid had impregnated a woman was unfathomable to him in the same way that one could not imagine the sexual escapades of one's son or daughter, especially when one's son or daughter was, well… _Reid_.

That left only Emily Prentiss, or Rossi, though he felt sure that Rossi's playboy days were coming to a necessary end. It was true that he had noticed a distinct upwards shift in Emily's demeanor recently, but he had just thought that this was natural as she began to feel more and more a part of the BAU team. He considered now that it really _could_ be attributed to a new partner, and subsequently the conception of a child, but if he were truthful with himself, he doubted it. Secretly, he had always suspected that Emily was just a little bit gay, anyway…

Outside of the team Hotch had few mutual acquaintances with his team members and eventually he decided that speculating any further would get him nowhere, resolving to confront them instead. It was _he_ who had the obvious and legitimate reason to be in that shop, after all!

Discrediting the theory that they had followed him, both Emily and JJ looked manifestly _startled_ to see him there.

"Hotch!" JJ was first to exclaim, and he gathered that it seemed to be less of a greeting and more of a _warning_ to Emily, who was engrossed in filing through pairs of kiddy pajamas beside her.

Emily's neck snapped up to look at him, eyes wide in surprise. "Sir, what are you doing here?" she asked. Shoving the pajamas she had just picked up back on the rack and pushing them away from her dissociatively. "Shopping for little Jack?"

"I might ask you the same," Hotch mentioned. "First Garcia and now you two? Who's having a baby that I don't know about?"

Though it was phrased like a joke, both Emily and JJ were keenly aware that what Hotch was really doing was requesting an explanation, and he wouldn't leave until he got one either. The two women glanced at each other awkwardly. Sure, they _could_ lie and say that a friend was having a baby, but then in less than a week when they told the team what was going on he would know and remember that they had lied to him, if he didn't _already_ suspect it… In the end they were saved from answering by Hotch, who had just reached a conclusion in his mind.

"Does this have anything to do with the ambiguously phrased note Haley received yesterday afternoon about dinner on Saturday?" he asked, and, glancing back at JJ for confirmation of her intentions, Emily nodded, floating a hand to her stomach and smiling guiltily.

"We were going to tell you," she promised, taking JJ's hand in hers and holding it up for Hotch to see. "I'm pregnant and, uh, JJ is my wife."

To his credit, Hotch's reaction was extremely mild. Then again, Emily couldn't help but compare it to the empty sort of look he got in briefings when gruesome murders were described to him— one of the fallbacks of have a boss unable, or unwilling, to express emotion. Eventually, though, he spelled it out for them.

"As your friend," he said slowly, "I'm nothing but happy for you. Of course, as your boss, I can't approve of my subordinates fraternizing, indeed starting a family, beyond my notice."

JJ resisted the urge to glance over and see how Emily was taking this, instead staring straight ahead at her superior. "Yes, sir. We understand," she said, giving her spouse's hand a little squeeze of encouragement.

A few moments passed in silence, then Hotch cracked a smile. "As it has been, as I said, happening _beyond my notice_, however, I can't see any harm in it… as long as Section Chief Strauss doesn't come to hear about my saying so. Emily, you'll have to file for maternity leave at some point. In the mean time, try to avoid unnecessary risks."

JJ looked at Emily now as she responded in the affirmative. She was beaming.

"Thanks, Hotch," she said gratefully. "It means a lot to us that you approve!"

JJ confirmed this but Hotch merely nodded humbly, and after some more light conversation, as they parted, he couldn't help but wonder, considering the dynamics between Morgan and Garcia, and now JJ and Emily, whether or not there was something in the cop coffee after all…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Everything seemed to go downhill after Hotch was told the truth about JJ and Emily. He'd been unable to keep himself from telling Haley the minute he had stepped in the door, and after all of the horrible, gruesome, _painful_ experiences she had shared with him about pregnancy and childbirth that evening he couldn't help but become more protective than usual of Emily, even in the office.

It certainly didn't help when they were pulled out on a case.

On the short plane ride to West Virginia he asked her four separate times whether or not she was feeling nauseas, thoroughly confusing the majority of the team, who were unaware of the pregnancy and who had never found Emily to be nauseas on a plane in all the time they'd worked with her. It got so bad that at one point JJ had to pull him aside and reprimand him for his ridiculous concerns. If Emily felt ill she would tell them. He didn't need to draw attention to her and arouse suspicion by repeatedly asking the same question. Hotch, for his part, apologized sincerely and promised to be subtler in the future.

That was until they landed in West Virginia and had to traipse through thick, deep mud to get from the makeshift runway to the local police station, one of the many joys of cases in small country towns. Again he outed his concerns, this time about her ankles, and again JJ had to explain to him that the sore ankles pregnant women complained of came from constantly carrying the weight of the baby. One did not get sore ankles from carrying something quite literally she size and shape of a small peanut. She also pre-empted any concerns about back pain, explaining that this was also a result of the baby's weight, and therefore irrelevant. She wanted to ask where exactly he'd been when _his_ wife was pregnant, but she didn't, knowing the answer would that he had been with _them_. She thought that perhaps he was trying to make up for that now.

At the local PD, Hotch kept throwing sideways glances at Emily, and he had to thoroughly restrain himself from giving her a desk job and leaving her at the PD with Garcia. He told himself that, just as JJ had said, at the moment everything was perfectly normal. She wouldn't consider it a favour to be laid off work so early in her pregnancy. All the same, when he gave instructions to the team, he made sure to couple Emily with himself, ignoring JJ's disbelieving look.

The case was not a difficult one. In a town home to downwards of 300 people, a number which was constantly decreasing thanks to their fire-loving unsub, there weren't all too many suspects who fit the profile. In the end they found him doped out in a park and had him cuffed before he realized what was happening.

On the way back to Quantico, on Saturday morning, Hotch startled Reid, sitting just within earshot, by asking Emily whether or not she was experiencing an unsettled stomach, or breast pain, yet.

Thus, Reid was the third to know.

He confronted JJ, as Hotch and Emily seemed near inseparable, soon after they were off the plane.

"JJ, have you noticed anything strange going on between Hotch and Emily lately?" he asked curiously, observing them not too far away as they exited the terminal. As he did so, Garcia had just stepped aside, answering a phone call.

"No, I haven't noticed," said JJ, applying a dispassionate, bored tone to emphasize the casual nature of the situation, eyes scouring the car park for signs of where she might have parked her SUV.

"You— You _haven't_?" Reid confirmed, a little put off. He'd thought it was obvious. That JJ hadn't picked up anything at all gave him cause for concern. "Didn't you hear him asking those strange questions on the plane and in West Virginia? Was she nauseas, did her ankles hurt—"

"—We were almost knee deep in mud at that point," JJ pointed out. "_My _ankles were hurting. Maybe it just looked like Emily was in particular pain to him."

Reid considered this dubiously. "Then he asked her if her stomach was unsettled—"

"—Not long after he and Emily had returned from that makeshift burns hospital to question the last survivor of the fires," JJ rebutted. "It's just a _bit_ unsettling, don't you think, Reid."

"—And if she had any pain in her breasts?"

JJ paused, frustration becoming evident on her face. Try as she might, she doubted that even she could explain away that one. "Okay, you're right…" she admitted reluctantly. Couldn't he have just waited until the evening? He would have found out then anyway, and it would have been on her terms, not his!

"Oh my God," Reid whispered, apparently oblivious to her frustration, eyes wide and unfathomable.

"I would have told you, but…"

"_I can't believe Hotch is cheating on his wife and son!!"_

JJ stopped and stared at him incredulously. "_What?"_

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Reid, a formidably _un-Reid-like_ angry passion in his tone as he turned back to look at her, frozen where she stood. "Hotch cheated on Haley with Emily and now she's become pregnant! Do you know how many marriages end every year due to unfaithfulness in one or more of the spouses? Or how many of those couples have children together?? Children who suffer lasting psychological consequences???"

JJ opened her mouth, perhaps to remind Reid that he was one of these children, but no sound came out, and she watched powerlessly as he turned on his heel and stormed off towards Hotch, Emily, and Morgan. As he did so, she wanted to call out to him, contradict him, but was too shocked to do so. By the time she'd started moving toward him, she could already see the effects of her silence.

Reid, naturally not the most confrontational guy (to put it lightly), had become _enraged_ by Hotch's infidelity, and his betrayal of both Haley and Emily. As she approached she couldn't make out the words, but she could certainly hear his tone of voice, and his frantic gesturing told a story of their own. It was Reid like she'd never seen him. Beside him, Emily and Hotch appeared confused, and their every attempt to intervene was overridden.

Had it just been those two, Hotch and Emily, standing there it might have blown over, it might have easily been explained away, but Morgan's presence precluded the possibility. Hell, it did a lot more than that…

"Morgan, stop!" JJ called out, but too late, seconds later his fist was colliding with Hotch's face. Startled, he stumbled backwards, swearing and clutching his nose as blood streamed from it.

"Are you out of your mind??" he yelled furiously. "Assaulting your superior officer—?!"

"Don't you _dare_ fucking reprimand me, Hotch. You fucking _bastard_!" Morgan spat. "You have a _wife _and _son,_ for Christ's sake!" Unsure what to do, he paced furiously, unable to watch as Hotch, who had been doubled over, came to stand at full height, but unable to remove himself from the situation either. He swore repeatedly under his breath to blow off steam. Meanwhile, Garcia had snapped her phone shut mid-sentence and was running over.

"Derek, you'd better have a brilliant-as-fuck explanation for this!" she cried, shooting Hotch a worried look as Emily pressed a wad of tissues to his streaming nose. "And you'd better give it to me in five seconds or less!"

"Baby girl, you don't know what this sad little _twat_ did to Emily," Morgan protested, breathing out heavily, heart pumping from the adrenaline.

"Enlighten me!" she replied snappily, but it was Emily who replied.

"_I _will," she interjected firmly. "This is all because JJ and I haven't been honest with you these past 11 months. I'm sorry."

"This is about you and Jayj?" Garcia confirmed, eyes narrowing. "Okay, _which_ one of you is the homophobic _fuckwit_ who decided to start a fight over the best damned news I've heard all year?" When nobody replied, mostly due to their shock or lack of understanding, Garcia pedaled on. "_Well?" _she demanded. "Derek, _explain_ this to me!!"

Morgan waved his hands defensively, uncomprehendingly. "Slow down. _Slow down_, baby girl!" he begged. "All I know is Reid comes over here, mad as hell, and he tells me that _Hotch_ got Emily pregnant, cheatin' on his family!"

"Morgan, your cute little ass is really even dumber than I thought," Garcia deadpanned. "Hotch has _nothing to do_ with Emily being pregnant, other than the fact that he _knows_ about it, like everyone but you and Reid did up until a few minutes ago. His concern was totally natural, sweet even, guys, and you blew it totally out of proportion!"

Obviously thinking he'd cleared the blame by his admission of noble reasons, Morgan made to offer bashful congratulations to Emily, only to be interrupted by his girlfriend, still furious with him.

"Derek, for the love of _chocolate_, you should have _known_ better than to come over here, fists flying, before you got the story straight!" she told him, shaking a finger in his direction threateningly. "Now because of your hotheadedness you've hurt Hotch for no goddamn reason! …Are you okay, Hotch?"

"I'm fine," Hotcher grunted, shaking Emily off and holding the blood-soaked tissues up with one hand, offering the other one to Morgan roughly. "But if you _ever_ do that again—"

"Yes, sir," Morgan agreed gratefully. "Sorry about that."

Hotch nodded acceptingly and moved to lean on the nearest car, completely and utterly shell-shocked.

Nobody said anything at all until JJ appeared behind them. "So guys," she said hopefully. "Emily's at 7?"

-

As her teammates congregated by the window in Emily's living room, sipping drinks and laughing in as natural a manner as you might expect after the days many tense turns, JJ exchanged an anxious look with her wife, hovering by her side in the kitchen. It was almost time to go out there and reveal to them all what they already knew, with one exception: the results of that afternoon's tests.

Further exceptions, this time to the statement that all were all already aware of the good news, were Emily's mother and JJ's parents and siblings, all milling uncertainly around the room, entirely unsure what they had been called over for— what they were celebrating with the drinks in their hands.

All noise evaporated as Emily and JJ entered the room, replaced by a cautious, almost tangible silence. No one greeted one another, or mentioned how long it had been since they'd spoken last, even though it had… Anticipation hung heavy in the air. It could have been split with a knife.

"Friends, family…" Emily began soundly, but beyond those words she found herself mute, and touching her arm affectionately, JJ took over.

Yes, she was more apt for this job, she realised. The media liaison was used to delivering unexpected, unwelcome news after all…

"Mom, dad, Ms Prentiss, Jessica, James… _team_. We've invited you here to share some very special news with us that we hope you'll not only _accept_… but be as happy to hear as we have been made happy because of it." She paused, allowing her guests to process the weight of the situation, perhaps guess at its nature, before going on. "Emily and I have been married for six months and we're expecting a child. From the results we received today, it looks to be a healthy one at this stage. …I won't try to explain why we felt we had to keep this from you, but I hope that your reactions will tell us that it was unnecessary, and that our fears were unjustified."

"We understand if you need some time," Emily assured them, eyes locked directly on her own mothers, "But the fact is that each of you in this room is here because we, JJ and I, want very much for you to be a part of this child's life. So we hope you'll consider it and know that, whatever you choose… we'll appreciate the effort it would have taken you to do even that."

JJ frowned as she watched Emily's mother's face transform, and feeling Emily begin to shake beside her, she found herself calling out. "Ms Prentiss!"

The ambassador froze by the door upon being addressed directly. "Don't ask me to accept this, Ms Jareau, because I can't. There aren't pretty words enough in your vulgar little head to explain to me why this monstrosity had to occur, let alone beyond my notice—"

"If you're _anything_ like my mother, Ms Prentiss," JJ continued kindly, regardless of the insult, "You'll have wanted grandchildren, am I right? Admittedly, you'll have wanted them to grow up with a mother and a father, but though our individual expectations and desires are different, the fact is that we all want what we think is _best_ for our children, and… I'd just like to remind you that even though this child's conception exceeded those expectations, those desires… that alone can't mean that this child deserves to grow up without the influence of someone so important to its mother, or that _you_ deserve to live estranged from the family you've desired such lovely things for. Despite everything, we're talking about your _grandson_… and we're talking about the daughter you gave birth to yourself."

Emily glanced away as her mother sought out her gaze. "Everyone in this room is here because we want you to be a part of this child's life," she repeated quietly. "Mother, we've never been as close as I'd have liked… The truth is, I'd like you to be a part of _my_ life again too."

Emily's mother faltered as the gazes of her daughter's supporters all fell upon her, knowing that if she left now not only would she ruin her daughter's evening, but she would also poison the atmosphere here, and ruin everyone's. Selfishly, a part of her wanted to do just that, but she would _not_ be the mother who just stormed out of her daughter's life in full view of the innocent parties. She had to be diplomatic about this… That's what she told herself when she returned to the space where she had previously stood, beside Mrs Jareau. She had to be _diplomatic_ about this, that was why she was staying. It was certainly not in response to her daughter's plea, not one bit… Not because secretly, she wanted to be a part of her daughter's life too… Reaching down to the table, she retrieved her wine glass, and on the spur of the moment, raised it. "To… To my daughter," she said, falteringly, voice choked with some strange emotion that neither she, nor Emily could identify, "To my _daughter_, and her… _wife_."

Across the room from her, a man with a crooked nose also raised his glass, quickly followed by those gathered around him.

JJ's heart sank as the attention then turned on her own family, who stood huddled together in a corner, uncertain what to do. Their darting eyes convened in silence. Each struggled for an appropriate response. To express encouragement without… _expressing encouragement_.

Finally, JJ's father raised his glass to the couple. "My little button, and her wife," he toasted, ignoring the looks his own family was affording him in favour of the happy smiles that had washed over Emily and JJ's faces at his acceptance. "I've waited almost 30 years to see my baby girl this happy, and if this woman here is the cause of that happiness then I've no place to judge… It was a woman who made me happiest myself, after all…" He turned to his wife and took her hand in his lovingly. "Darling, you know our daughter. She's a good girl. She knows what she's doing. I only hope you'll support her too."

Following their father's lead, both Jessica and James expressed genuine support, but JJ's mother was still hesitant.

"Mom…?"

Ms Jareau's eyes snapped up at being addressed directly, and without another word, she fled the room, slamming the door behind her, no words to express what she was feeling.

Her husband sighed regretfully. "I'll speak to her…" he began, but he was interrupted.

"No, I will," Ms Prentiss cut in. "I think I understand how she's feeling…" she shot her daughter a look. "She just needs to be reminded where her priorities lie… Thank you for that, Jennifer."

"Mom…"

"I love you, Em."

Emily let out a noise halfway between a laugh and a sob. "I love you too, mom."

Ms Prentiss nodded curtly, leaving the entire party smiling after her as she left… but for once, Emily found herself suspecting that her mother's display had been about a little more than politics, than desperately needing the people around her to support her...

As she left, her mother found herself suspecting the same thing.

"To JJ and Emily!"

-

Finis


End file.
